Thursday, December 20, 2012

Guess who is in charge of the goodie bags for the preschool Christmas party?

That's right, this mom.

Trying to be clever and avoid using the expected candy cane filler, I decided to put together a 'write a letter to Santa kit' for the Christmas party goodie bags.

So, I headed to the dollar store and Michaels to pick up some supplies.

At the dollar store, I bought pencils, erasers, a snowflake-I'd like to
think that the letters can be sent via snowflake to the North Pole (a stretch I know but I needed to fill the bags frugally and for a dollar a pack, those snowflakes will work).

At Michaels, I bought a package of decorative paper for $2.50 and some bubbles for $3 (mostly because they came in a pack of 18 and that's how many goodie bags I needed to fill).

For each goodie bag, I rolled up 2 sheets of paper and tied a tag that said: 'WRITE A LETTER TO SANTA KIT' so the parents knew what the goodie bags were for.

And, since I was already in an ornament making sweat shop, I decided to make monogrammed ornaments for each of Grace's classmates all18 of them!

With a budge of almost nothing, I had to make name tags as well. I thought these paint chip ornament tags were perfect.

Monday, December 17, 2012

*I share this post with a heavy heart. Tomorrow I will be participating in a day of silence in remembrance for the victims lost to the tragedy in Newtown, CT. If you are a fellow blogger, I encourage you to do the same.

Tuck away in a box, I have the letter my husband wrote to me the day that we got married. Sadly, though, tucked away in a box, I rarely see it or appreciate it. This year, I decided to turn it into an ornament.

I scanned the original letter and printed it out on copier paper. Using a wooden heart, I traced out the exact shape I needed.

Using some Mod Podge, I applied a coat onto the wooden heart and placed my paper heart on top. After that dried, I applied another coat {a sealing coat} of Mod Podge over the top of the paper heart.

I added a key, yes the key to my heart {cheesy?} and some twine to hang the heart from.

So, now instead of this beautiful letter being tucked away in a box, year after year, I can hang it on my tree and appreciate the happy memories that come flooding back.

Friday, December 14, 2012

In the ornament making sweat shop, I have admittedly been in this past month, I couldn't forget about making a special ornament for Grace.

While I make ornaments, I often multi-task by playing Barbies with Grace. It seemed only fitting, Grace's ornament be a Barbie ornament.

Supplies Needed:
Felt
Batting or extra layer of felt {to fill your ornament with}
Black Embroidery Thread and Needle
Ribbon {for the ornament loop}
Water Soluble pen
And, the Barbie pattern, which I had pinned from Frou Frou by Heathersue but no longer is up on her site, SO if you want to make one of your own, you can use the pattern I pinned.

On the back of this ornament, I decided to embroider Grace's name with a TM and the date. I wanted it to have a Barbie like feel to how I personalized it. This is optional, the ornament is just as cute without anything on the back.

When you have finished your embroidery, cut your Barbie out. I used a circle shape. Cut the back out in the same size and the batting or extra layer of felt out in a slightly smaller circle.

All that is left to do is assemble your ornament. Fold your ribbon over into a loop, apply a generous layer of glue above the ribbon loop and below it as well as around the perimeter of the circle.

Place the batting or extra layer of felt down in the center of the ornament, making sure there is still plenty of glue left around to attach the top layer.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

And, the ornament making continues. This round of ornaments were all inspired by pinterest.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree...felt ornament. Lil fish studios has the PDF pattern for this adorable felt pear {and apple} for $3. This embroidered felt pear took about 30 minutes to complete.

Last year, thanks to Zakka Life, I was able to create this sweet little bird who lives in a stylish embroidered felt bird cage ornament.

My favorite ornaments from last year and this year are these monogrammed felt ornaments, tutorial provided from Made. Not only have I used them as ornaments, I also add them to presents as gift tags.

I entered not 1 but 4 ornament exchanges this year {what was I thinking?}. Thanks to Better Homes and Gardens I was able to make a felt poinsettia ornament for one of my ornament exchange buddies who claimed to love poinsettias.

Elsie Marley helped me make this half eaten felt gingerbread man ornament...who looks so delicious, someone took a few bites out of him.

I made this dove, last year, from a Purl Bee turorial, though, it seems they are now charging for the pattern. However, they do have a similar fabric bird ornament available as a free tutorial.

*The next two ornaments were inspired by things I saw on pinterest before I blogged. I can't seem to find the source from which my inspiration was drawn. If you know the source, please let me know.

Two years ago, Grace asked for a cat for Christmas, but we have Riley so instead of getting her a real cat, I made her a cat ornament.

And, no tree is complete without a Volkswagen van. The license plate was the perfect place to add some personalization.

I'm always looking for ornament ideas, if you have one you think I would like, let me know in the comments. Maybe next year you'll be in my 'put a pin in it - Christmas ornaments' post.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

We all know, it's all about the packaging. Why not start your wrapping with some reusable chalk board tags?

Head over to your local hobby store and check out the wooden shapes they have. I bought mine for less than .40 cents a piece. They have some really cool shapes, like the United States {one would think I might have a United States obsession, I assure you, I do not}.

Either you or your talented assistant can drill a hole into your wooden shape, to allow for a ribbon or twine to be looped through later.

Using some Chalk Board Spray Paint, give both the front and the back of the wooden shapes 2 coats of coverage.

Once dry, you have a blank canvas.

Grab some ribbon and some chalk. Fill out your gift tag and attach it to a beautifully wrapped gift.

It doesn't even need to be on a Christmas gift.

I'll *chalk* this up to a Christmas miracle that at least 2 more presents are wrapped.

About Me

Adjusting to life since being laid off. When days used to consist of business deals and wearing heels. Now that I am a stay at home mom, in addition to taking care of my adorable little girl, I am learning more about cooking, crafting and creating while realizing that even though I am a stay at home mom, I can still wear my heels!

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